What does it mean to stake a claim? Drawing on the history of Homestead Acts, we offered an apple tree to the residents of areas where the project was shown. Planting an apple tree is a commitment, requiring up to seven years to yield fruit. The New Homestead Act brings up to fifty trees across the area. Dig a hole, tend, and act a commitment to place. Planted in public or private space, the New Homestead Trees, throws a wrench in the historic notion of ownership. Time, care, and labor might just yield apples, in good years, more than enough to share. Claim a tree and, for the time being, let it be known, "I will be here".